# About

Backend engineer since December 2024. Before that: a diploma in mechanical engineering, a lot of Python, and two Smart India Hackathon finals.

- **sheet**: 2 / 6
- **updated**: 2026-09-27

## Summary

I'm a backend engineer at Zoho Payments. I joined as a technical trainee in December 2024 and have been a Member Technical Staff since May 2025. I build the identity verification checks that decide whether a merchant can start transacting: mostly Java services on PostgreSQL and Redis, integrations with external data providers, the state model behind each check, and a data layer that holds up as volume grows.

The domain is a good teacher. The code has to be correct, because mistakes have regulatory consequences; resilient, because external providers fail constantly; and fast, because every extra second delays a real business from onboarding. I would rather design for the failure up front than find it in production.

Lately I'm drawn to the architecture side: taking a system built for one product and reshaping it so new business verticals plug in without rewrites. Extensibility without instability is the kind of problem I enjoy most.

I came to software from mechanical engineering, wrote Python through my computer science degree, and learned Java on the job. Outside work I read system design, experiment with AI and DevOps on side setups, and build the occasional React or Vue app to stay dangerous on the frontend.

## How I work

1. Write down the failure modes before the happy path.
2. Prefer state you can inspect. A row with a status beats a flag in memory.
3. Every claim about a system should survive the next question.
4. Plain words over pattern names. "Adapters behind an interface" says more than a label on a diagram.

## Timeline

1. 2026 build Alfred, Guardian and a multi-tenant verification service, in my own time. [Projects](https://0xshriram.dev/projects.md#independent).
2. 2025-05 role Member Technical Staff, Zoho Payments. Backend for identity verification.
3. 2025-05 edu B.E. Computer Science and Engineering, University College of Engineering, BIT Campus, Tiruchirappalli (Anna University). CGPA 8.03.
4. 2024-12 role Technical Trainee, Zoho. Onboarded onto the KYC module, converted to full time.
5. 2024-07 role Software Developer Intern, Bharathidasan University. A student fees system in Django and MySQL.
6. 2023, 24 award Finalist, Smart India Hackathon, both years.
7. 2020-06 edu Diploma in Mechanical Engineering, Seshasayee Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli. 89.14%.

## Skills

Sorted by where I have actually used a thing, not by how often I've read about it.

- **languages**: Java, Python, JavaScript, SQL
- **backend**: Spring Boot, FastAPI, Django, Node.js, REST APIs, an internal Java framework on Tomcat
- **frontend**: React.js, Next.js, Vue
- **data and messaging**: PostgreSQL, Redis (including Lua scripts), Kafka
- **devops and tooling**: Docker Compose, Git, GitLab, tmux
- **ai tools**: OpenCode, Codex, Claude Code, Copilot, MCP servers
- **learning**: AWS, Kubernetes, Terraform, operating system internals, Redis internals

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Canonical: https://0xshriram.dev/about.html